£2.2m technology investment supporting local cancer treatments in Wirral
Posted 27th May 2022
A brand new, state of the art radiotherapy machine is providing its first treatment at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Wirral today (Friday 27 May 2022).
The machine, known as a linear accelerator or ‘linac’ has been installed and undergone weeks of rigorous testing from scientists and radiographers from The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust before being ready for patient use – providing precise and targeted radiation treatment for people needing radiotherapy in the area.
The latest machine replaces an older version and ensures that people can continue to receive this specialist care closer to where they live. Work to install the machine also provided an opportunity to make sure anyone attending Wirral for radiotherapy gets the best possible care and experience with staff working to make people’s experience as smooth as it possibly can be from arrival, to getting changed, to receiving their treatment.
Samantha Brass, Radiotherapy Treatment Expert Practitioner at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust said:
“As radiographers delivering treatments we really get to know our patients as they often come for radiotherapy every day for weeks at a time so being able to provide them with the best possible experience is really important.
“The new machine means we can continue providing high quality care with the latest technology in surroundings that offer the most comfort and dignity as possible. We’ve used the opportunity to reconfigure the changing rooms between reception and the treatment room or “bunker” so that people’s experience is now much more smooth and private.
“Having been a radiographer for nearly 15 years, it’s a role where you are constantly learning as imaging techniques and treatments change but having such close contact and relationships with patients for such prolonged periods means we can care for people in a much more holistic way and it’s great that we’re investing in the latest equipment across all our sites.”
From installation to providing treatment, the machine, a Varian Truebeam®, goes through around eight weeks of measurements and testing by scientists, engineers and radiographers to make sure that the machine is safe and the radiation is able to be precisely targeted to each individual patient.
Rebecca Elt, Principle Clinical Scientist and Medical Physics Expert at The Clatterbridge NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We’re really pleased to welcome the new machine to Wirral for the benefit of so many people needing radiotherapy treatment.
“A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to install new technologies like this to make sure that every single person is able to get care and treatment that is precisely, expertly and safely tailored to their individual needs.
“The team have all worked incredibly hard to get to this point and we’re proud that the machine is now being used for patient care.”
Before someone has treatment on the machine, they will have a planning CT scan, their course of radiotherapy treatment will be designed by expert scientists and clinicians involved in their care before the Linac machine is lined up to the precise measurements needed so that treatment is exactly targeted to each individual and area of the body.
Clatterbridge Cancer Centre - Wirral offers outpatient chemotherapy, radiotherapy, diagnostic and cancer support services for patients from east Merseyside and surrounding areas.
